My son just recently bought me an early Christmas present. It's a Taurus M66, 7 Round, SS, 4" barrel, .357 Magnum.It's been MANY years since I have owned a .357 Magnum, early 90's. It was a Ruger SP101, 2.25" barrel. I used Federal HYDRA-SHOK as my personal defense round. I don't remember the grain though.When I did a Google search on current .357 Magnum personal defense ammo, I couldn't believe that the HYDRA-SHOK was STILL a go to round!There was a chart out by LUCKY GUNNER about research on all of the most popular .38 SPL and .357 Magnum ammo. Long story short, I bought a box of each, Winchester 125 gr. PDX1 and Underwood 158 gr. Gold Dot. According to the ballistic gel testing, I sure wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of EITHER of this ammo!What brand .357 Magnum do you own, and your personal defense ammo?

The great thing about a large .357 mag is that it is at a power threshold that most hand-gun calibers cannot attain.Cheap green-box Remington, in 110 grain and 125 grain Semi-jacketed Hollow Point varieties, are capable of damage premium rounds of other calibers can only dream of.Yes this is the round our fathers and grandfathers carried. It's still a good one from all the tests I have seen.

There's a reason I keep a 6" barrel Ruger Security Six next to my bedside.

Currently I have it stoked with 125 Grain Speer Gold Dot.However I also have some 158 grain Hydra-shok's in speed loaders. It's good stuff too.

I have 3, .357 Magnum handguns. 2 Smith & Wesson 686's. Both are pre lock models purchased in the mid 80's. A 6" square butt that my wife bought me while we were dating. And a 2-1/2" round butt model I purchased shortly afterward. I also have a Ruger Blackhawk in .357 Magnum with a 6" barrel. The .357 Magnum is one of the finest self defense cartridges ever made. It's powerful, yet easy to control with a bit of practice. The simplicity of a double action revolver is also a benefit in a stressful situation. No buttons, safeties, or levers to contend with. Simply point and shoot. These are both Smiths. I love the red ramp / white outline adjustable sights. I qualified for my Arizona CCW back in 1996 with the 2-1/2" Model.

Made by Prvi Partizan (PPU) for Academy under their Monarch brand. I have shot thousands of rounds of PPU in my semi-auto pistols and it always goes bang.

I have as well. PPU is good stuff. And the brass holds up well to several reloadings. In fact the .300 Win. Mag. brass is some of the best and longest lasting brass in that caliber I've ever reloaded. And the PPU .300 Win. Mag. factory ammo is almost cheaper than buying new brass. The only PPU stuff that is really anemic is the 8 X57 MM Mauser ammo. But there is good reason for that, because of the greatly varying bore diameters in those Mil-Surp rifles. It would be too dangerous if the factory loaded it near, or at the redline.

Average sound level on .357 round is 164-165 db - similar to swat team stun grenade sound level. Shooting a hot load .357 indoors in a closed space will definitely hurt any intruder, assuming you hit intruder and not family member or neighbor thru a wall due to over penetration. Will also render you deaf for several hours after the first round, somewhat blind from huge muzzle flash if dark, and possible permanent damage to your hearing (especially if multiple shots fired). 138 grain jacketed hollow points in .38 is a better in-house defense round.

I have 3, .357 Magnum handguns. 2 Smith & Wesson 686's. Both are pre lock models purchased in the mid 80's. A 6" square butt that my wife bought me while we were dating. And a 2-1/2" round butt model I purchased shortly afterward. I also have a Ruger Blackhawk in .357 Magnum with a 6" barrel. The .357 Magnum is one of the finest self defense cartridges ever made. It's powerful, yet easy to control with a bit of practice. The simplicity of a double action revolver is also a benefit in a stressful situation. No buttons, safeties, or levers to contend with. Simply point and shoot. These are both Smiths. I love the red ramp / white outline adjustable sights. I qualified for my Arizona CCW back in 1996 with the 2-1/2" Model.

Man, those are some beauties! I have owned several brands of .357 Magnums & .38 Spl's, but never a S&W brand. They are too rich for my wallet. Most of mine were Rugers. I have owned a few Security Sixes and SP101's. I have also owned a Rossi .357 Magnum. This is my 1st Taurus in any kind of firearm. They state the finish is Matte SS. I wonder if it can be polished to the same finish as your S&W's?

I use Underwood as the majority of my ammo. It is priced decently compared to PREMIUM self defense ammo, particularly if you wait on sales, and it is smokin' hot(and doesn't seem to be over pressure). Plus it comes in different bullets for different applications.

Average sound level on .357 round is 164-165 db - similar to swat team stun grenade sound level. Shooting a hot load .357 indoors in a closed space will definitely hurt any intruder, assuming you hit intruder and not family member or neighbor thru a wall due to over penetration. Will also render you deaf for several hours after the first round, somewhat blind from huge muzzle flash if dark, and possible permanent damage to your hearing (especially if multiple shots fired). 138 grain jacketed hollow points in .38 is a better in-house defense round.

I'm the self appointed BITOG ballistics expert (I do have a lot of experience in the area, would be a court certified ballistics expert, except I changed career paths which killed that) and I agree with everything cashmoney said.

.357 Mag is just so darn loud. Not something I would want to contend with in an enclosed bedroom.

My favorite loads for a 4 inch revolver, for home defense, would be, in no particular order (based on real world testing, done by me, in gel and pig carcasses):